A/N: Hi to anyone who is still reading this story. Yous are all very very patient people I have to say! Lol. Thanks to all who reviewed my last chap. Yous know who yous are! I'm not totally in love with this chapter, but the soppy side of me wanted a bit more interaction between Frodo and Clara before he actually wakes up to be able to speak to her. I also wanted to drag the few days out before the council and add a few interactions between the Hobbits and some of the other characters that will be coming into use very soon in the story. It's just sort of filler I suppose for the next few chapters. Anyways, yous all should know the drill by now; READ and REVIEW! :P

Chapter Thirteen: Awakening

I struggled to sleep that night; it was uncomfortable knowing that Frodo was sleeping still only through the thin wall next to my room. His form still and all alone as we were forbidden to sleep in his room after the state Gandalf had found us in the morning of yesterday; me humped over on the bed covered in mud and Samwise curled up on a chair like a snoring cat. Not a pretty sight I assumed. I quickly and quietly made my way over to the window to check the time, hardly even near sunrise I guessed as the night was still as black as coal. I absentmindedly strummed my fingers against the wall as I debated whether or not to break the rules and follow my instincts. Memories of the past several years of my mischievous existence streamed through my mind and I immediately made my decision. I had never followed orders before so why start now? I smiled slightly as the soft thuds of my feet echoed on the marbled floors as I swiftly left my room and headed to where I knew I should have been earlier.

The room was quieter than I expected it to be, as strange as that sounds seeing as no one should have been in it but a peaceful Frodo. I quickly scanned the room to check that I hadn't missed a sleeping Samwise somewhere before I soundlessly made my way over to the place I had awoken in yesterday. The seat hadn't been moved and neither had the person in the bed. It worried me slightly knowing that he had not even shifted in the slightest since I had last seen him. He still lay on his back, his midnight curls cascading over the silken pillow beneath. His arms nestled beside his torso, hands cold from being exposed to the chill of the room. I quickly took one of them into my own hand and rubbed it gently hoping to warm it even just slightly, fixing the sheets over him to warm the rest of his cool form. My eyes found his face in the dimly lit room and the slight movement of his closed eyes and the small smile twitching at the corners of his lips made all the thoughts of disobeying Gandalf to come here disappear entirely. This was where I should have been for the whole of the day. I tried to remember when I had suddenly gotten so close to Frodo that it physically hurt to watch him suffer and I couldn't quite pinpoint when. The day when he had pushed me away all those weeks ago in the Shire was the moment the strong feelings I had of him showed themselves to me, but I could not for the heart of me think of when those feelings had even began. There was no doubt that Merry and Pippin would cause the same hurt and upset if either of them had been in this bed, but the feeling that it would have been different wouldn't shift off my conscious. Was it the mere thing that we were best friends that made me so concerned? Or was it something more? Soft shuffling met my ears and I quickly shook all thoughts from my head and found Frodo was shifting in bed, his fingers tightening around my hand as he moved onto a more comfortable position on his side. Facing me now, his bandaged shoulder more visible as it peeked out the top of the sheets. I tried my best not to look but my curiosity got the best of me and I suddenly found that my free hand had moved of its own accord and was touching his shoulder. My fingers danced gracefully over the wound, careful not to hurt him but trying to ease some of his pain all the same. I knew it would scar, it was deep and ugly in the woods and I knew the same mark lay hidden behind those clever bandages. He shifted again, arms outstretched into the space in front of him. I immediately stopped my pawing of him and gently grabbed his free arm and tried to lull him back to the serenity before I had decided to rudely prod him. Within seconds, I was occupying the small space his arms had been in and was hugging him as he slipped off soundly once again. The same twinge of something different panged in my chest as I lay there, sleep coming over me suddenly as I shook it off to the back of my head for worrying about later. Right now Frodo was hurt and I needed to be here to comfort him and be there to explain when he would finally wake up. He was my best friend and there was no doubt in me that I felt nothing more.

I was awoken by the horrid noise of sound, loud shouting to be exact. I could tell it was Sam by the gruffness of his voice and the urge to suddenly spring to life and tell him to shush for the sake of my sanity was tempting, but involved too much energy for this moment in time. I settled instead to grumbling and shifting in the bed trying to block out the noise. It was then that I felt a warmth next to me and realised where I was; Frodo's bed. I dug my head even further into the pillow at this realisation and blushed scarlet into the white silk. Thank the heavens it is only Sam and not Pippin or Merry as neither of them would ever let me live this moment down, I was sure of it.

"Sam!" the movement next to me shouted as I felt the bed shift suddenly and an extra weight appeared on it.

"Bless you, you're awake" I faintly heard Sam mumble as the bed shifted again, Frodo moving from lying down to sitting I assumed by the sudden coldness that flooded my left hand side. His fingers uncurled from mine as he propped himself up with his elbows. My face burned even more brightly as I came to the conclusion that I must have been clutching his hand all night again. I was most definitely not getting up until everyone had left the room, including Frodo.

"Sam has hardly left your side" a third voice spoke making me cringe even more, "Miss Clara has been here night and day also. Seems by her still sleeping form she must have been awake most of last night at your side also even though she was specifically told not to visit you at night"

I recognised the voice as Gandalf's at them words. Why was he telling him all this? Surely this wasn't necessary in the slightest. I curled up into the smallest ball I could and continued 'sleeping'. Light chuckling filled the air as Frodo shifted uncomfortably next to me.

"We had to pull Miss Clara away yesterday," Sam eagerly said, his voice not mocking in anyway but the light heartedness of it clear to everyone in the room, "she would have never of left your side otherwise Mr Frodo. We were all so worried about you, weren't we Mr Gandalf?"

I perked my ears up awaiting the old Wizards wise word but after a few moments nothing came. Frodo's hand grabbed mine softly under the covers and to say I was taken aback by the boldness of it would have been an understatement. It was clear that my pretence of being fast asleep was clearly believable, to him anyways.

"By the skills of Lord Elrond you're beginning to mend" Gandalf voiced. It once again reminded me to thank those who had mended the Hobbit who was holding my hand in his. I still had not asked where Lord Elrond or Miss Arwen lived and had certainly not worked up enough courage to talk to either as of yet. They were obviously royalty of some kind here in the land of Elf's, and I didn't think they would want to be bothered by the presence of a mere Hobbit lass.

"Welcome to Rivendell Frodo Baggins" a strong eloquent fourth voice uttered, quickly bringing me out of my reverie and almost causing me to break my façade. Almost.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf addressed the new voice and I faintly began to wonder how I had not even heard him come in. My senses must be more muddled with sleep than I thought.

"It is nice to finally see you up and well Mr Baggins," the Elf spoke as I felt a great presence loom over my side of the bed, making me dig deeper into the sheets. "I see you have been well looked after in my absence"

"Yes Miss Clara seems rather immune to the idea of rules and couldn't quite find it in herself to stay away it seems, even after curfew"

"So it seems"

Why did everyone insist on being in here this morning of all mornings? I took this as an omen that breaking rules was definitely bad. I had at least gotten what I wanted which was being present when Frodo awoken, but somehow I didn't quite remember so many people being present and the vision of me hiding in the bed like some silly girl wasn't quite what I had imagined either. Beggars can't be chooser and all that I suppose.

"Frodo is that you? You're finally awake!" a voice boomed as the sound of the door being thrown open and bare feet slapping off the floor echoed around the room. The bed suddenly dipped again and I had to hold onto Frodo this time as not to fall onto the cold floor. "Clara! Didn't see you there!"

Well there was no point in faking sleep anymore I thought, "Ehm, hi Pippin…" My eyes deliberately never strayed from my hands, which I had swiftly torn away from Frodo only moment ago, and never to that of any of the eyes in the room. Especially that of Gandalf or Lord Elrond.

"It nice to see that Miss Clara has finally decided to join us" Gandalf's voice twinkled over the hype that was Pippin. I knew right then that he knew I was awake all along. Could this possibly get any more embarrassing?

"Yes well I really should go and get ready," I managed to mumble as I awkwardly slid out of bed, trying my best, and failing miserably I might add, to hide my indecency as I was only clad in my under gown. "I shall come back soon" I uttered to no one in particular as I all but ran to the door and nearly bumped into a presence on my way into the hall.

"Clara?"

I didn't need to look up to register who it was, and I certainly wasn't going to stop and chat in the hall while I was freezing in nothing but a thin white gown. "I will speak to you later Merry!" I managed to call out just before I slammed the door to my room shut and all but slid to the floor in sheer relief that I was alone. I would never live this down I thought as I trudged to the closet and began dressing. Dragging the mundane task out as long as I could so I could avoid all the questions for a little while longer at least.

I managed to hide in my room for what must have been a good few hours more than what I had anticipated until a very alive and much brighter, if that was possible, Pippin burst unwelcomed into my room and demanded that I go outside for a walk with the rest of them. Apparently they had found a stable and where in awe of the horses lodged there.

"So, what where you doing in Frodo's bed this morn?" Pippin just shot out like he was asking about the weather as we were making our way across one of the many gardens outside.

I shifted my feet awkwardly and was at a loss for words seeing as I didn't quite know the answer to that question myself. How did I end up sleeping in Frodo's bed? It's fair to say that as much as I remember how I had gotten there, why did I let it happen? I could of quite easily just lay until he had calmed tossing and turning and took my position on the chair once more but I didn't. "I'm afraid I don't know Pippin"

He shot me one of his rare serious looks for a moment before he began speaking again, "You like each other don't you? It's quite clear to see you know"

I stopped walking at that and stared at him with an open mouth. What the hell was he going on about? Of course I liked him! But as a friend, a close and very dear friend. But nothing more and nothing along the lines of romance.

"Clara c'mon! You must know as everyone else does. It's pretty obvious"

"It is not!" I exclaimed as I began to walk again, marching ahead of him as I tried to stop this awkward and absurd conversation, "besides, I don't like him like that anyways so you clearly don't even know what you are talking about"

"Fine, fine!" he exhaled as he jogged to keep up with my fast lengthy strides, "but you two were in bed together this morning and you cannot deny how that looks"

I had to admit, he was right about that. I need to clear things up with everyone that was there. I didn't want people thinking that I was totally without any sense of manners at all. The image of what my mother and father would say popped into my head and I immediately knew what I had to do. I couldn't disappoint them by acting like protocols and traditions didn't exist just because someone was hurt and unwell. Even if they had almost died. I shook all thoughts of my parents from my mind as I continued to trek ahead, realising after only a few more strides that I dint even know which way we were heading.

As if reading my mind, Pippin grabbed my hand and dragged me off into the opposite direction, "Follow me"

"Why are there no saddle things?" Pippin asked as he stood next to a rather small brown horse. I was in the box next to him patting Bill seeing as he was the only pony in the stables and that the sheer size of the horses frightened me a little. I was the smallest of us and had a rather annoying fear of everything it seemed.

"Because we respect the animals as they respect us" a male voice spoke at the other end of the stables. The whimsical notes in it told me straight away that it was an Elf, but the sight of the tall regal blonde that stepped out of the shadows and almost danced his way over to us was a little unexpected.

"How do you keep from falling off though?" Pippin piped up another ridiculous but valid question as the male Elf reached us and began stroking the horse Pippin was next to with such a soft and careful touch. It was almost magical the way he was looking at the animal, like he was able to read its thoughts and connect with its innermost being. I watched in awe as I absentmindedly stroked Bill in a less than eloquent fashion.

He leaned down so he was level with Pippin before he spoke, "they would never let someone they trust fall" I shared a confused look with Pippin before he then turned and addressed me, "Lady Arwen seeks to speak with you Miss Clara. She asked me to inform you that she will be in your room at sundown"

Arwen wanted to speak with me? I was slightly taken aback by this information that I forgot I was staring at the Elf like he had two heads, "th-thank you for informing me then Lord…"

"My name is Legolas my Lady" he nodded before he gracefully walked off, but not before whispering something Elfish to the horse which neighed softly in return. I stared after him totally dumbstruck as I fully got a chance to take in his appearance; shimmering blonde hair, tall lean frame which was clad in greens and browns and other earthy tones and steely blue eyes. Not as piercing as Frodo's, but they left an impression nonetheless. He was, in a word, beautiful. I shook my head slightly as Pippins shoulder nudged mine and turned to see him rolling his eyes at me. Clearly I had been staring like a love struck fool.

"We were wondering when you guys would finally get here" Merrys casual tone flitted through the stables as I turned to see him and Samwise standing behind us. Sam was staring around him with a mixture of awe and fear while Merry was staring directly at me. The intensity of his gaze forcing me to duck my head in shame for some odd reason.

"Where is Frodo?" Pippin asked as he began to look around him causing e to do the same. My eyes locked with Merry's for s split moment barely even registering his expression before Sam began to answer.

"He is with Master Bilbo getting reacquainted"

I nodded my head in understanding before turning back to Bill and resuming stroking his coat. I knew I should say something about this morning but where should I start?

"I see you were there when Frodo awoke then?"

My hand froze on Bill's mane and my gaze dropped down to my shuffling feet. I could feel the heat of my cheeks rising and the urge to run away and hide building to an all-time high. Why did Merry have to bring this up now?

Keeping my eyes firmly on the ground I decided to attempt a reply, "yes. I uhm…couldn't wait any longer to see him, as I was so concerned as to why he hadn't awoken yet with him being a close friends and all, and decided to ehm…ignore Gandalf and must have fallen asleep" I mumbled before adding in a much more higher and confident pitch, "Yes that's right I dozed off and awoken not knowing where I was. You know me?"

The noise of my nervous chuckle seemed to echo around the stone walls and I could almost feel eyes burning into my body. I followed the urge to look up and saw Merry's jaw tighten ever so slightly before he mumbled, "oh, I see…"

I stared at him for a moment before the urge to disappear to somewhere else finally erupted over and I turned to no one in particular, "I should go and prepare for Lady Arwen in my room" And fled from the stables like my heels where on fire, clearly leaving more than just confused Hobbits behind me, my dignity also. I am such a fool…